First Isles
The First Isles are seventeen isles off the Farwestern coast of the Delkish Continent, most of which make up the territory of one of Estlenn's three lesser nation-states, going simply by the name of the First Isles, and distinguished occasionally as the First Isles of Estlenn, or even occasionally, incorrectly, the Estlenner Isles. For convenience's sake, this article is about both the nation-state, and the isles. Geography: History: The isles were first civilized sometime in the early years CC: 1,000s by exiled members of Pilantine court following events documented in the Phœdan, wherein the Great Royal House of Asmodeus fell, bringing Pilat into the Pilantine Dark Ages, coinciding with the Long Decline of the Southern Empire. Before the arrival of the Pilantinemen, the First Isles had been sparsely populated. They are windswept, and rocky, with very little farmland, and most of the good land was controlled by the so-called Warprinces, supposed "first among equals" in civil life serving as masters in the battlefield. In practice they were merely chiefs, and often the biggest, baddest, and strongest members of their tribes. These people were mostly dark-skinned, and the Pilantinemen considered them handsome but dull, dubbing them the Nubilites. In reality, they had massively underestimated the Nubilites, who mounted a defensive war which lasted for 100 years, and brought violence all the way to Kornt, and Astelnks. Eventually a peace settlement was made: the Pilantinemen could build their cities, so long as Nubilities could settle within the walls, and Warprinces and their families would be afforded noble status, finally, a Great Royal Prince would be elected a century later from intermarried families on a then-unnamed isle where the Pilantinemen had first landed: the Grand & Beautiful Isle of the Dreadful Covenant Between the Men of Pilat, the Nubilites, and their Great Royal Princes, often just "Convenfright" (Pilantinemen had a habit of giving places names that were unwieldy long, often giving them acronyms, in this case Xndtpnlxrp, pronounced Xendi-ti-Pinulaxeræpit). They named Princess Huraka as their first ruler, and she ruled from the new capital of Princess Huraka's City in the Hurakan Isles of the Huraka's Grip strait. Due to the isles' geographic position, and the origins of the Pilantinemen, they became a very maritime culture within decades, and had invented some of the most advanced methods of sailing within just a century. Shortly thereafter, however, there came a whirlwind from the north. In the wake of the eruption of Mount Scorpion, the Southern Empire had fallen, and erupted into chaos. From the ashes of that destruction emerged four great warlords: Kalbalkosh, his son Kosh of Clan Yul, Hololk Gayush, and Erment Estel the Beast Prince. Estel had already functioned as a sort of Prince of Warprinces on Bredenn Isle, the culture of which was very similar to the First Isles prior to the arrival of the Pilantinemen. They really only differed in that Bredenn Isle is far more fertile and open, and in their skin colors. The Beast Prince was even more ambitious than his three fellows, and invaded the First Isles contrary to their advice. Unlike his predecessors the Pilantinemen, however, the Beast Prince keenly understood these people, so he beat them in battle after battle, and refused to engage them at sea, where he knew they would excel. Finally, many of them began to respect his strength, his savagery, and his cunning, and ceded control of city after city to him. All the isles fell but Black Isle, which had indeed never fallen even to the Pilantinemen. It was said to be cursed, and all invaders would soon succumb to the Foul Purges, a sort of very bloody diarrhea. Following the invasion, the isles were occupied for centuries, and the Far West used them as a means to build a vast trading empire with Telf, and the many hundreds of tribes and kingdoms of the near west. Wood and dyes from the far east would arrive to them in First Islander hands through traders in the Face. For a time, the people were content with their situation, that is until the Fatherkiller came to power. They soon began to realize that they had very little say in who ruled over them, their laws, and their taxes.The Fatherkiller saw them as merely lesser men who had been conquered by the Farwesterners, the only culture he saw as being the equal of Ires. He imposed military rule to quell any potential uprisings in response to the raising of taxes, the outlawing of race mixing, and the sudden enactment of laws which favored merchants and sailors over nobles who had ruled for nearly a millennium. He also used slavery to force First Islanders to help build the Great Bridge. This all culminated in the Last Revolution, which was crushed by the Fatherkiller and his daughter Lacha Oyu at the Last Battle, which became the name of the city built over the battlefield. Lacha would go on to declare her father's actions in the First Isles as his biggest blunder. In her rule she would soften laws, pay reparations to enslaved builders, lower taxes, but would lean even harder into favoring the merchant class. This payed off, and there remained a relative stability on the isles for centuries, all the while, a cultural identity began to solidify. Very few Farwesterners had moved into the First Isles. They were remote, and very unpleasant, and the culture was often viewed as inferior to the Farwesterners, all the while, a nostalgia for the days before the occupation began to grow into a philosophy, and into a national fervor. The isles responded with muted hope when Aye the Queen arose. She was from a far off land, yet it was near Pilat, and she had Pilantinemen in her ranks. She was also a woman, and many had hoped for a ruler not unlike Lacha Oyu. It was not Aye the Queen who would govern them, but rather her governor Raymeij, who had a great understanding of the lands he would govern save for the First Isles, the Snout, and Bredenn. There he struggled, and these places were never fully loyal or under the control of the Ayish Kingdom, but neither did they incite rebellion or invite conflict. They were merely neglected. For centuries the First Isles would go on neglected, the black sheep of the Delklands, understood only by the Snouth and Bredenn Isle, and even then, not always. They would officially exchange hands between many powers many times, but few ever made an attempt at governance. They were useful as exclusive trading partners, and occasionally they would come to collect taxes from the wealthy merchant class. Things continued on this way until news reached the isles of the Revolution From Ross in the Ayelands. There was a novel idea, that the people could gather together, and rebel against their leaders. This began to swell into a national fervor, a call to return back to the way things were, when the people could have and would have unshackled themselves. Murmurs had been heard on the isles for centuries of the talk of Mob-rule, something which the Men of Pilat had originally seen practiced in Astelnks. These two ideas coalesced, and the First Revolution began against the Far West. Many more merchants began to trade with Escerd, and Telf, and not just the Far West. In fact they even ventured as far south as the Crescent Continent, and Parthage. The Far West crushed the revolution, but was now in a relationship with the isles not dissimilar to Sayerthenn and Sukaar's relationship. It could not effectively govern the region, and would have to constantly battle for it for centuries. This all culminated in the Rape of Rotokpolis following First Islander involvement against the Far West in the Anasic War the country waged against the Rainish Magickal Glory. Following this, the First Army of the Mob-rule Party was established, declaring all out war against everything Farwestern. Thousandtrees' Town was set to fire. Thrice. The River Roots was poisoned, three Princes of the Sky were raped to death. Stonetowers was vandalized, occupied, and vandalized again. First Islander wyzards somehow managed to turn the Raintrap off for six months. Rich merchants funded the campaigns of Great Emperors of the Stone. They refused to trade with the Far West, and consolidated their power at sea to blockade Farwestern ports. The campaign funds are what finally turned the tide of the conflict. The wrath of the Far West was invited in full force to the First Isles. A full scale occupation and colonization began, and the Mob-rule Party went into hiding. It would survive, and governed just a few mountain towns. Eventually, the ire of the Far West subsided. Stone Emperors continued to harass it, and the Lobott successfully challenged the Far West. Whispers of a Second Revolution came about, but went away when news of the 2nd Rainish Magickal Glory's defeat at the hands of the Lobott reached the isles. Surely, the Lobott would eventually destroy the Far West, and they would win their freedom that way. But it was not to be. Instead, Sefenlander Emperor Messink Messon would sweep through the Far West, and conquer the whole of the Delklands. Lord Roe Rooden, a descendant of House Rooden which had ruled the First Isles for several millennia, was caught by surprise later in his life, as the First Isles were wrested from Farwestern control all at once as Messink swept through the Far West, and declared the First Isles a sort of autonomous region. Roe was awarded with lordship over the isles, and his immortal ancestor Eron became his advisor. As a result of all this, and the relative privileges that the First Isles, the Snout, and Bredenn received, there was an upwelling of love towards the House of Messon and the Sefenlands, especially from the House of Rooden. The House of Firstboat, however, a then minor house from the area around Fourteenships, began openly challenging their lords as hypocrites, for they had formerly advocated for mob-rule. They were silenced, and many of their leaders imprisoned. The minor house held a vendetta against their lords, one they would later be able to act on. Sefenlander rule was brief but influential on the isles and on the house. When the Delkish Empire came about, and the island nation's degree of independence went down, Lord Eron reacted badly. He mustered strength from the First Isles and Laklol's Pyre in the first revolt against Delkish rule. The largest front of the Deylki-Sefenlander War was fought in Telf. Lord Eron was betrayed on both fronts, however, as his great-granddaughter Lady Ruel Rooden led a 3rd Branch against him. The House of Firstboat, which had grown wealthy from trade with the Sefenlands stormed the First Fortress near Rotokpolis, capturing Eron, and crippling the war effort in hours. At the Trial of Eron Rooden, the House of Firstboat was awarded with lordship over the First Isles Gallery: First Banner.png|''First Banner'' Old First Banner.png|Old First Banner Estlenner Banner.png|''Estlenner Banner''|link=Estlenn Category:States Category:Locations Category:History Category:The Delklands